WAY OUT THERE – In Space

Middy Potter’s newest show at WSG gallery is a lesson in scale. His work in this show studies several different ‘heavenly bodies’ and shows them in scale to one another.  For starters, his ‘Earth’ is a tiny crumb at the end of a sewing needle.  All other objects in the show grow in size from there.  It’s a humbling experience to walk among the pieces, especially when you notice the ‘Earth’ in comparison.  
The ‘NGC-346 Nebula’, above has a theatrical presence, with its glowing effect coming from layers of polyester fiber-fill over an armature, the white color almost lighting the purple form from within.  A touch of glitter adds a little to the glowing effect.  

‘Green Magnetar’, above,  has a fanciful, party feel to it.  In this piece, Potter illustrates a magnetar, a type of neutron star that has a relatively slow spin rate and generates occasional large blasts of X-rays.  https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/multimedia/sgr0418.html

The circular wires are a nice representation of those X-ray blasts.

Veil Nebula :
copper, polyester, mixed media :
56″ h :
by Middy Potter

‘Veil Nebula’, above, has a presence that is hard to capture in a photograph. For that matter, all of Potter’s pieces do.  They are suspended from above and move with the ambient airflow of the gallery.  The pieces cast dynamic shadows and they are in constant flux, much like the stars above.  

‘Way Out There – In Space’ is on exhibit through September 1.